J.J. Arrington is back

J.J. Arrington was gone but the Broncos’ interest in the former Arizona Cardinals back was not forgotten.

Twice, the Broncos reached an agreement in principal with Arrington last year on a conditional four-year, $10 million contract that would have guaranteed him $3 million had he made their season-opening roster. Twice, the deal effectively fell through because of the condition of Arrington’s right knee.

Microfracture surgery finally took and after year-long rehabilitation under the supervision of Dr. James Andrews, Arrington is back with the Broncos after agreeing to a one-year contract. The league minimum salary for players with four years of service time is $635,000.

Arrington will report for the start of the Broncos’ offseason conditioning program on March 15.

“This has been in the works for a long time,” said J.R. Rickert, Arrington’s agent. “It’s really been in the works since J.J. had to go back to get his knee taken care of last year. The Broncos said then that as soon as he could pass a physical, they would welcome him back. Other clubs were interested but J.J.’s loyalty was to Josh McDaniels.”

McDaniels’ testimony of Arrington last season was how the back played nearly every down in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII, with Arizona trailing and Pittsburgh in blitz mode. The Cardinals entered the fourth quarter down 20-7 but rallied to take a 23-20 lead before the Steelers won it on a touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds remaining.

Arrington will compete with Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter for playing time.